Vlad tickles the ivories: Videos that went viral in China, May 15-19

Putin’s music talents!
Russian President Vladimir Putin played two Russian songs on a (badly tuned) piano before a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Belt and Road Forum last Sunday in Beijing.

A real police officer
An officer stopped his police car in front of oncoming traffic and helped an elderly person cross the road in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

A biped poodle

Saving the baby!
Police in China’s Guangdong Province broke a car window to release a one-year-old toddler who was locked inside the car for about 40 minutes. The parents had gone shopping…

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‘Critical’ journalism in China, explained by Maria Repnikova

Outside observers typically view China’s media as utterly shackled by the bonds of censorship, unable to critique the government or speak truth to power in any meaningful sense. In part, this is true — censorship and other pressures do create “no-go” zones for journalists in China, as well as gray zones that sometimes rapidly turn […]

Michael Yamashita’s Photo of the Day

Rabbits in colorful cages for sale at a temple fair near Lianhuachi Park in Beijing in 2010 during the Spring Festival celebration. At these fairs, which are popular during this time of year, vendors sell food and sometimes pets.